Classic Poem

HERALD

A Queen elect! and Loyalty again
Wakes like a blossom to the summer rain!
Defiled how long! in dust and darkness hid;
As dead as Cheops in his pyramid!
Kings in their time and demagogues to-day,
Baser than swine, have cast that pearl away!
Yet Spring returns, and Loyalty again
Feels the old rapture kindling in each vein;
Biding its time, as Heaven ordains the hours,
It waits to crown the worthiest with flowers.

CROWN

Queen of a proud and immemorial line,
Upon thy head what sacred dews should shine!
Heir to long annals where no stain appears,
The thousandth rosebud of a thousand years!
With this fair Crown what fragrant memories shed
The bloom and balm of ages on thy head!

SCEPTRE

A thornless Crown! a Sceptre without stain!
Peace in thy path and honor in thy train!
So rule thy realm that when these wreaths decay
And the poor robes of office pass away
Thy brow may bear more brightly than to-day
A Crown with Christ in Heaven's eternal May.

QUEEN

Amen! and Heaven support me too!
'Tis much we mighty people must go through!
In mine exchequer not a sovran cent—
As poor in purse as a church-mouse in Lent;
Not a bright bayonet to back my will,
Not one black bomb to whistle “Love me still”!
I couldn't tax you were I so inclined;
Not even hang you if I had a mind.
I know no art in politics to shine,
To prove black “white,” and all your nice things mine!
What shall I do to keep your minds in awe?
Where shall I seek a substitute for law?

Queens there have been—and oh, what blood and tears
Bear their pale memories down the tide of years!
And Kings, how many! duly born to rule,
And duly dead, epitomized “a fool!”
Kind spirits, guide me for mine empire's ease,
Nor let me live or die like one of these.
Sweet Sisters, help me, as such sisters can,
To try hard loving for my regal plan,
And if we fail, then count me crowned to-day
The most uphappy of the Queens of May.

MAIDS

SPRING

Love tarries for love! Lo! the chrysalis' wing
And the bloom in the bud, how they welcome the Spring!

SUMMER

Love kindles to love! Lo! the birds and the flowers
That blossom and sing to my sun and my showers!

AUTUMN

Love ripens to love! Lo! my touches unfold
From the heart of the flowret the harvest of gold!

WINTER

Let the Summer decay, and the Autumn expire!
Lo! Love at the hearth is a log on the fire!

CHORUS

Rule by love! and round the year
Flowers shall follow thee as here.
Spring with wreaths and incense rare—
Summer with her robes so fair—
Autumn with his golden store—
Winter, kindliest at core—
More than these shall bless thy sway,
Happy Queen of more than May!